Hoist



June 16, 1942.

R. E. SMITH I HoIsT Filed June 2e, 1941 CHT-rozarl Patented June 16,1942 HOIST Ralph E. Smith, Muskegon Heights, Mich., as-

signor to Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Inc.,

Muskegon,

Mich.r a corporation of New Jersey Application June 26, 1941, Serial No.399,845

5 Claims.

The invention pertains to 'hoists of the typewith the load; and theinvention concerns more especially means for receiving and supportingthe portion of the chain interposed between the sprocket and theanchored end of the chain and gradually increasing in length as the loadis elevated, this portion being commonly referred to as the tail" of thechain.

The primary object of theinvention is to provide a hoist of thecharacter indicated having a container of novel construction andarrangement adapted effectually to receive and store the chain tail in acompact form so as to avoid interference with an ascending load.

A further object is to provide a container constructed and arrangedrelative to the driven sprocket so that the tail portion of the chain iseiectually guided in its passage into the con tainer.

Another object is to provide a chain container having means operative inthe passage of the chain into the container to 'cause the same to assumea pattern consisting generally of a series of overlying loops.

The objects` of the invention thus generally stated together `with otherand ancillary advantages are attained by the construction andarrangement shown in the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof inwhich Figure l is a perspective view of a hoist and chain containertherefor', embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken approximately inthe plane of line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken approximately inthe plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the manner in which thechain is guided in its passage into the container.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a larger portion of the general patternformed thereby.

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of ing member for the container.

In its preferred embodiment the invention is ilwith a portable electrichoist comprising an electric motor 'I supported in lustrated inconnection a suitable frame structure a having a gear housing 9 in thelower portion of which is journaled a sprocket Il driven by the motor 1through the the supportchain fed'into thecontainer and the I4, the hoistis medium of suitable gearing (not shown). II designates a roller chainreeved over the sprocket I0 and having one end suitably anchored to thehousing at I2, the portion of the chain between the anchored end I2 andthe sprocket constituting the tail portion generally designated I3. Theopposite end of the chain is heein shown as equipped with a loadengaging hook Il.

To govern the operation o! the motor in raising or lowering the loadattached to the hook I provided with a suitable reversing controllergenerally designated I5 and having an operating arm I6 to the oppositeends of which are attached manually operated pull cords I'I and I8. Tolimit the raising and lowering movements a pair of limit stop levers I9and 20 are pivoted on a shaft 2i suitably mounted upon the gear housing9, the free ends of said levers being s disposed in operative relationto the controlleil arm I6.` For a more detailed disclosure generalconstruction and arrangement thus far described, reference is made tothe copending application of Preston Whitcomb, Serial No. 228,509, iiledSeptember 6, 1938, Patent No. 2,274,175 dated February 24, 1942.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the roller chain II in passing over thedriven sprocket IIJ forms a vertical loop the opposite side portions ofwhich depend respectively through openings in the stop leversk I9 and 20in order that these levers may be actuated at the extreme upper andlower'limits of the raising and lowering operations to stop the motor 1,all as set forth in said copending application. In providing theopenings in the I levers I9 and 20, the latter are shaped to provideopposed guide walls 22 and 23 of substantial depth.

For the purpose of receiving and supporting the tail portion I3 of thechain as it gradually increases in length while the load is beinglifted, I have provided a container generally designated 2l having anelongated open upper end and suit.

ably mounted for the entrance of the chain as it passes downwardly fromthe sprocket I0. In the preferred embodiment the container is made ofsubstantial length and depth but relatively thin with opposed iiat sidewalls 25 and 2 spaced apart a distance only slightly greater than thewidth of the chain, thereby defining a narrow chamber having an upperelongated opening 2l. The contaneris herein conveniently although notnecessarily, 22 which for this purpose is formed with a depending arm 28formed as a continuation of the guide wall 23 of the limit stop lever(Fig. 4) and of the supported by the limit stop lever Vpin 29.

curved downwardly and outwardly, the lower end of the arm being enteredbetween the side walls of the container at the inner upper end thereofand pivotally connected to said walls by a pivot away at its upper innerend to accommodate the arm 28 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. To support theouter end of the container, a exible element such as a chain 3i ispreferably employed. Herein this chain has its upper end anchored at I 2together with the upper end of the roller chain to the supportingstructure 8. thus pivotally supported so as to be capable of swingingupwardly in the event it is struck by an ascending load carried by thehook I4.

i In its passage downwardly into the container from the sprocket l thechain is guided by the opposed walls 22 and 23 defining the opening inthe limit stop 20; and in order further to guide the chain, the arm 28is formed at one side with an upstanding guide flange 32 which alsoserves to stiifen or strengthen the arm. Moreover the upper or outerface of the arm is preferably formed with a central rib 33` (Fig. 2)upon which the rollers 34 of the chain may ride while supporting theconnecting side bars 35 of the chain out of rubbing contact with theface of the arm.

An important feature of my invention resides in shaping the containerand more especially the inner portion of the edge wall 30 so as toinsure that the chain will be received and stored in compact form withinthe container out of the way of The edge wall 30 of the container iscut- The container isA an ascending load and yet capable of easy with-1drawal unrestricted by kinks,l etc. To this end the edge wall isinclined and preferably curved downwardly and outwardly as shown clearlyin- Fig. 4. Experience has shown that with this construction the tailportion i3 initially forms a loop A (Fig. 3) which gradually continuesto increase,

in length downwardly and outwardly along the curved edge wall of thecontainer until the rigidity of the chain is no longer capable ofextending the loop further. Thereupon relatively small substantiallyhorizontal loops A' are formed successively beginning first a shortdistance below the `ipper end of the container and gradually movingdownwardly, with the succeeding loops piling one upon the other andsimultaneously forcing the outer run of the original loop A outwardly.After the formation of a series of loops A', a second relatively largeloop B is formed (Fig. 4) followed by the formation of a second seriesof small substantially horizontal loops B', the latter acting as in thecase of the loop A' to displace the outer portion of the chain outwardlystill farther. This operation continues with the result that the chainassumes a pattern consisting generally of a series of overlying loopsgradually shifting outwardly in the container, the later formed loopsbeing positioned uppermost so that free and unrestricted withdrawal ofthe chain from the container in the reverse operation is insured.

As seen in Fig. 5, the depending arm 28 upon which the container ismounted depends vertically from the limit stop lever 20 which normallyoccupies a position inclined somewhat downwardly from its pivotalsupport. Thus the container is supported coplanar with the sprocket IDwhile the load is being raised or lowered, the limit stop lever 20 beingrocked on-its pivot-only at the lower limit of the lowering operation.

It will be seen that by the construction and arrangement set forthprovision is made for the effectual reception and storage of the tailportion of the hoisting chain. In use it is espethe Chain.

cially advantageous when the'load being lifted presents a broad flatsurface upon which the chain would, if permitted to hang, pile up in anuncontrolled manner with a. resultant kinking of In the appended claimsthe term roller chain is employed to signify a chain of the general typeherein shown, it being contemplated that the chain pintles need not beequipped with rollers in so far as the present invention is concerned. l

I claim as my invention:

l. The combination with a hoist having a housing, a lifting sprocketjournaled on a horizontal'axis in the housing and a roller chain havingone end fixed to said housing and reeved over said sprocket; of acontainer for receiving `end thereof and the sprocket as a load islifted,

said container being of substantial length and depth and having one endpivotally supported for tilting movement on a horizontal axis adjac ntthe sprocket, and a connection between the other end of said containerand said housing to support the container, said connection [beingadapted to permit upward swinging movement of the container, and theupper end of the container providing a narrow opening for receiving andguiding the chain.

2. A hoist having, in combination, a housing, a roller chain with oneend anchored to the housing and a sprocket journaled on a horizontalaxis in the lower portion of the housing and over .which said chain isreeved so as to form a tail portion of gradually increasing lengthbetween the sprocket and the anchored end of the chain when the load isascending, a container providing a chamber of substantial depth and of awidth approximately corresponding to the width of the chain and open atits upper edge, and means for suspending said container from saidhousing substantially coplanar with the hoisting sprocket and offsetlaterally to one side thereof, the edge wall of the receptacle adjacentthe sprocket being inclined downwardly and outwardly in such a directionaway from the sprocket and cooperating with the side walls as to guidethe descending chain to form a series of loops.

3. A hoist having, in combination, a housing, a lifting sprocketjournaled in said housing, a roller chain reeved over said sprocket andhaving one end anchored to the housingand its other end adapted forconnection to a load to be lifted, a member mounted on said housingbelow said sprocket, a container having one end pivotally attached tosaid member -for receiving the tail portion of the chain between thesprocket and the anchored end of the chain, and a flexible -connectionbetween the other and of said container and said housing, said memberhaving an opening therein for the passage of said tail portion of thechain and an arm depending at one side of said opening and operative toguide the chain into the container.

4. A hoist having a housing, a roller chain with one end anchored to thehousing, a sprocket iournaled in the housing and over which said chainis reeved to form a gradually increasing loop between the sprocket andthe anchored end of the chain when the load is ascending, a container ofsubstantial depth and having an elonopening substantially coplanar withand below said sprocket, and said container having a curved guideextending downwardly from the end of and the anchored end of the chain-when the load is ascending, said container being elongated in form andadapted to be supported substantally coplanar with said sprocket, andhaving opposed side members spaced apart so as to form guides for theside edges of the chain, and an edge wall so inclined and operative incooperation with said side members as to guide the chain in its movementdownwardly away from the sprocket into a pattern of `predeterminedcharacter.

' f RALPH E. SMITH.

